Monday, 28 February 2011

I finished the yarn over the week end and as promised here it is. I did a chain ply to keep the colour sequence intact and I think it came out lovely, thick and squishy, and very colourful. Check the post below to see the origin of it.

I think Ill knit a pair of horribly simple unisex (so the husband can wear them too) wrist warmers of it, there is just 40 grams so it wouldn't be enough for anything bigger. Over all I am pretty proud of my thriftiness.

Friday, 25 February 2011

There are always little bits and pieces left over when I spin, the big pieces of singles I ply a "leftover" yarn from, but these little scraps, what to do with them, I could not throw them away. So, with hand carders, bought second hand, I set out to card the little pieces. I de-twisted them and sorted them in small piles with nice colours, and it worked. Small rolags waiting to be spun. It was hard work carding it though, and the poor carders that have been idle and drying for years got a real workout. Ill show the finished yarn on monday, if it is done, chain plying to keep the colours separate I think.

Monday, 21 February 2011

...On tv, which in itself is remarkable since I have completely stopped watching tv, I only see things I can download on the computer at a time that is convenient for me, wow, what a lot of time that got set free, ok, continuing, about Olafur Eliasson. Two things about that.
1: I get so frustrated by these "humble" men that get these huge deals and can show their art on a really big scale, how many women artist get to do that? Hmm, not many! Hugely irritating! How can people see these men get so many advantages for nothing and let it go on!
2: I was very moved by his work! I am not going to rant on about what it means to me, but instead show some clips of his work from youtube, and if you are interested you can find more information on your own.

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Yellow socks finished! I got stuck on these half way trough the second sock, right before the very unusually constructed heel, they are toe ups. Weird toe, but very nice when I got the hang of it and also a weird sewn cast off, which was also very nice. They are the "Punctuated Rib Socks" from "Knitting with Hand-painted Yarn", lovely book.

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

My pattern is now available as a free download-able PDF on Ravelry!
I would love to see some knitted up examples and to hear about how the pattern is to follow and if it contains any faults.
I will have the pattern here on the blog in some way (thinking about that) soon too for those who are not members of Ravelry.

Monday, 14 February 2011

This is my first home grown pattern! I have constructed my very own sock, that is truly unique, well, as unique as a hand knitted sock can be, which is both a lot and also not so much. Sock knitters know what I mean. :)

The pattern is not written up in legible terms yet but I have the basics down, I know what I did and I know how to reconstruct it, let hope I know how to write it down too.

The sock is named after Kebnekaise, Sweden's highest mountain, because somewhere between the facts of the ice and snow colours and that it is a very comfortable sock that would be great for hiking.

This is a pattern that truly follows the colour of the yarn, and you can never tell where it will take you. This is the fabulous part. It is as unpredictable or predictable as your yarn. But for it to work properly you need a yarn with a colour accent that is no more than one-fourth of the colour repeat, it can also work if the yarn creates wider stripes and then the accent can be about half the repeat. I am going to try this out, as soon as the yarn arrives with the mail. This yarn I dyed my self with food colouring.

The sock has a reversed stockinette stitch folded cuff.

The reversed stockinette stitch is also repeated in the heel, toe and underside of the foot. This makes the sock very comfortable to wear. I can vouch for that, as I tried on the sock for a long good time.

There is the usual heel flap and gusset pick up heel. Somewhat insideout.

It has a toe with spiral decreases, which are discreet and makes a rounded toe.

If you are interested in the pattern, which of course will be available for free, let me know, and Ill let you know when it is finished, I'd love some test knitters. Ill put the pattern up on ravelry as well.

Friday, 11 February 2011

I was testing the limits of Anastasia, my spinning wheel, making 2ply yarn/rope out of cotton fabric strips. It actually worked pretty well, I had a sort of yarn in the end, it is stiff and rigid but would probably make a great bag or bowl or something. Though I had lots of trouble getting it trough the wheel, it demanded lots of hand maneuvering, swearing and pleading. Maybe it would work better with thinner stripes or a more elastic fabric, Im thinking t-shirt.

I couldn't stop thinking about my grandmother, Gunnel, who had whole drawers full of balls of wind up fabric strips. She wove beautiful (trasmattor) carpets out of them.

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

If I ever feel a bit down and tired of the winter, a visit to the "Gustavshill" plant school is sure to pick me up. I love that place! In the winter they only have the inside store open, with pots, seeds, some tools and mostly house plants, in the summer they open up the outdoor section with trees, roses, perennials and bushes, and you can wander around under lots of apple trees smelling the herbs.
These are Geraniums (Perlagoner) still green and lots of blooming African Violets (Saintpaulia). I also brought home some more seeds and a blue spray bottle, for the seeds.

Tuesday, 8 February 2011

We visited a tulip show. There are so many sorts and colours and shapes! The highlight was that you could pick your own tulip bouquet, choosing colours and sizes, pulling them up out of the flower beds with the bulb and all. Ola the husband and I made a beautiful bouquet together with all pinks. I would love to grow my own tulips in the garden but we have lots and lots of deer here on the island, one lives in the neighbours bushes and apparently tulips are deer candy and they eat off everything to the ground long before any flowers make an appearance.